Chicago Fire reaches permanent deal for Franco as part of club’s plan to build on 2025

It didn’t take long for the Chicago Fire to put in motion their plans for the off-season after a strong first season under new head coach and sporting director Gregg Berhalter.

The Fire has signed on-loan midfielder André Franco on a permanent transfer from Porto and also signed Sweden international midfielder Anton Salétros from AIK.

Both deals are pivotal for the club looking to build upon their first playoff appearance since 2017. The Fire went out of the Eastern Conference’s first round in two matches, falling to the Supporters’ Shield-winning Philadelphia Union.

“The most important thing is: How do we improve this group?” Berhalter told The Athletic this week. “If we’re looking to keep the status quo, we’re going to struggle. We have to keep improving.”

Franco, 27, quickly became a key player for the Fire after joining on loan this summer. He had four assists in 402 minutes across six matches, acting as a crucial connector in possession between defense and the attack. The Fire won four of Franco’s five starts.

Unfortunately, Franco’s season ended early with a torn ACL in September. Despite the injury, which is expected to keep Franco out at least the first half of next season, Chicago still completed a deal to retain him.

“When the injury happened, he was devastated,” Berhalter said. “He was enjoying his soccer and really enjoyed being at the club after a difficult situation with Porto. He expressed his desire to stay and we wanted to keep him.”

The Fire and Porto agreed to a new fee in light of the injury, with Berhalter saying the clubs found an agreement that was fair for both and did right by the player.

Chicago’s off-season work had already included a deal for Salétros. The 29-year-old is a dynamic, box-to-box central midfielder and has been AIK’s captain. He has 19 caps for Sweden as well, appearing in each of its last 17 matches.

“When we’re looking at how we can get better, one thing is having players who are used to winning,” Berhalter said. “Used to the demands to win. When I think about these last couple weeks, we were under intense pressure and eventually we buckled. How do we maintain that intensity, how do we maintain that focus? Bringing in guys like André, like Salétros who are used to the demands of winning will help the team culture.”

Beyond those moves, Chicago will stay busy this winter. Berhalter indicates the club is looking at around four additions.

Chicago also has contract options to sort on players like Tom Barlow and Chase Gasper, plus a decision on Rominigue Kouamé, with the midfielder’s loan expiring. Sources across MLS expect U.S. veteran midfielder Kellyn Acosta to be available, given his lack of playing time and TAM contract.

Berhalter indicated the club can add a designated player or a U-22 initiative signing. The club has two DPs — Jonathan Bamba and Hugo Cuypers — and four active U-22 initiative players. One of the U-22s would need to be reclassified on the salary cap or moved, but the club has not locked itself into any decisions yet.

“We have the flexibility, that’s what we like about this off-season,” Berhalter said. “We have a number of different targets in different positions. We’re going to get the people who we think can help this club take the next step, whether that’s a DP or U-22 initiative player.”

Chicago had serious negotiations with a pair of global superstars last year. Conversations with Neymar were real, and the club came close to signing Kevin De Bruyne before he ultimately signed with reigning Serie A champion Napoli.

“We’ve had negotiations with some top players, we’re open to everything,” Berhalter said.

“We have a lot of things here in Chicago that speaks for itself,” he added. “We have an incredible training ground, it’s right in the city. Chicago is an incredible city to live in, it has everything to offer … there’s a lot of really good selling points to the city and we’re building a team that when players watch, they can see what we have. The quality, the foundation.”

The Fire has been long-viewed as a sleeping giant around MLS. It is one of the league’s historic and successful clubs but has had a drought of success before this season’s significant step in the right direction. Prior to this season, it made the playoffs once since 2012.

“We wanted to capture the attention of the city of Chicago, play football that resonated with the fans,” Berhalter said. “We did that. We played really attacking soccer, our games were entertaining and we scored goals. We set the foundation, but we need to improve, we need to get better.”

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